Good Environmental Choice Australia - new Sydney office

GECA is pleased to advise that it has a new office to accommodate our Standards team. GECA will be co tenants with other like-minded organisations in The Centre for Sustainable Practice in Redfern, Sydney. The recently refurbished green offices were designed by architect Carolyn Pidcock.

The direct number for the Sydney office is (02) 8284 7780.

GECA will maintain its Canberra office in Weston which will accommodate our administration staff. For all administration and general enquiries our existing phone and fax numbers.

GECA Staff changes
GECA is pleased to welcome Sonya Ku, as its new Standards Manager. Sonya began work with GECA in February and is making a fantastic contribution with standards development, business strategy and public speaking. Sonya comes to us from the Green Building Council of Australia where she worked as National Technical Manager. Sonya has also worked as ESD Group Leader at Hyder Consulting and Research Scientist at the NSW Government Department of Environment and Conservation. Sonya is also a qualified auditor of Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14000 series) and a Green Star Accredited Professional.

At the same time we will be saying farewell to Sven Paufer. Sven has been working with GECA as a Standards Officer for the last year, with his major achievements being the development of the Hard Surfaces Standard, Cleaning Products Standard, Draft Architectural and Protective Coatings standard and a number of extract submissions for major conferences. Sven and his wife will be heading back to Germany in June and his last day at GECA will be May 19. We wish to thank Sven for his work and wish him well for the future.

GECA Member Forums held in Melbourne and Sydney
Good Environmental Choice Australia held its second round of member events in Sydney and Melbourne on March 30 and 31. Both events were very well attended and members got to hear about a major Advertising campaign developed for 2009/10 and the latest update regarding the Green Building Council's Multi-Criteria Product Certification Assessment Framework and what this may mean for GECA licensees. GECA will provide specific information about this in the coming weeks.

Details about our next events will be advised shortly.

GECA and Cool Change Launch Advertising Campaign for 2009/10
GECA is committed to helping consumers at all levels reduce the environmental impact of their consumption. We are doing this by expanding the number of products available in Australia that deliver better environmental outcomes and by informing the market about how to make good environmental choices. It is our aim to make the Environmental Choice Australia Ecolabel the most recognised environmental trust mark in the country and there has never been a better time. The number of people wanting genuine green products is large and growing and people want an easy way to make informed choices and a brand that they can trust.

This year Good Environmental Choice Australia will be expanding its reach to the public through a coordinated marketing and advertising program for 2009/10. We aim to deliver a multimillion dollar advertising program aimed at consumers, architects and specifies and procurement professionals. To achieve this, GECA has teamed up with Cool Change, a dynamic environmental communications business to create an advertising platform that can deliver a professional, cost effective mass media communication program for all GECA licensees. The program was launched to GECA members in Melbourne and Sydney this month and the response was incredibly positive. I encourage all GECA members to look at the marketing program and to talk to GECA about it.

You can see the program detail at www.geca.org.au/homefront.htm

Our marketing team will be in contact shortly to discuss the program, but in the meantime if you have any questions or want to know more, please contact GECA on 02 6287 3800.

DesignEx April/May 2009
GECA exhibited at Design for Sustainability section of DesignEx in Melbourne again this year. Our aims were to expand market awareness about the GECA program to architects and designers, explain how the GECA environmental products standards deliver positive environmental outcomes using products as an example, communicate the large range of GECA certified products available that make it easier to specify green and explain the relevance and recognition of the GECA certification in the Green Star Rating System. Our co-exhibitors included Bauwerk Colour, Cavalier Bremworth, CSR Gyprock, Décor Systems, Therapod Seating Solutions and Verosol.

Terra Choice has Identified a Seventh Greenwashing Sin
TerraChoice, Canada's ecolabelling organisation released its latest report on Greenwashing in April. The study also investigated the state of Greenwashing in the United Kingdom and Australia, including examining almost 1,000 products in each of these two countries, revealing that Greenwashing is an international challenge.

Of the more than 4,000 surveyed products making green claims, over 98% committed at least one of the previously identified six sins of green washing and a new seventh sin emerged - "The Sin of Worshipping False Labels." The report also highlights that the rate of Greenwashing has tripled since 2006, Greenwashing is still rampant, and in Australia Building, kids, garden, office and cleaning products are the areas in which green claims are most common. The good news is that legitimate ecolabelling is on the rise and nearly twice as common as it was last year.

About the Study
In November 2008 through January 2009, TerraChoice researchers were sent into category-leading 'big box' retailers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia with instructions to record every product making an environmental claim. For each, the researchers recorded product details, claim(s) details, any supporting information, and any explanatory detail or offers of additional information or support.

In the United States and Canada, a total of 2,219 'green' products - products that can be found in every Canadian household - were recorded. These claims were tested against best practices, notably against guidelines provided by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Canadian Competition Bureau, Australian Consumer and Competition Commission, and the ISO 14021 standard for environmental labelling.

See the full report at www.sinsofgreenwashing.org

GECA Standards Update
In addition to the scheduled review of existing standards, GECA is currently working on three new standards - "Lamps and Ballasts," "Mattresses and Pillows" and "Air Conditioning." To see the status on the development of these standards, and details of all existing standards visit the GECA website www.geca.org.au/StandardsRegister.htm.

Draft cleaning product standards and revised carpet standards are completed and now under consideration of the standards committee.